The Orphan Train

From 1854 to 1929, hundreds of thousands of young children boarded trains in New York City, to be shipped west where they would find new families. Known as the Orphan Train, the program to relocate orphaned and abandoned children was operated largely by The Children's Aid Society and the New York Foundling Hospital.

This month, events at both ends of the Orphan Train route commemorate the relocation program. In Minnesota's Union Depot, a multimedia performance in early October presented historical fiction, interviews, images and music about the Orphan Trains. In New York's Grand Central Station,"Orphan Train, The Musical" directed by Patricia Birch will be performed on Oct. 11 and 12. Birch plans to travel across the country with the musical, performing at stops along the route to raise awareness for issues related to current-day foster care, early education and other youth issues.

Orphan Train riders, from the "Riders on the Orphan Train" multimedia performance at Union Depot in St. Paul, Minn.

More than 200,000 homeless children were sent west on the trains. It was the first emigration plan and largest mass migration of children ever in the United States.

Credit: National Orphan Train Complex Museum and Research Center

Children trying to stay warm on a steam grate on Mulberry Street, New York City, 1890.

Poverty, disease, alcoholism, job competition and other urban problems of the day left many families in New York with little choice but to abandon their children to the streets.

Credit: Jacob Riis Collection/Courtesy Museum of the City of New York

Sophia (Kaminsky) Hillesheim, 4, arrived in Minneapolis, Minn. in 1917. Sophia was born in the Bronx and was relinquished to the New York Foundling Hospital as an infant. She was later adopted in Minnesota.

Hillesheim's daughter, Renee Wendinger, became a historian and author of the book "Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York."

Credit: Courtesy The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York

Orphan Train riders, from the "Riders on the Orphan Train" multimedia performance at Union Depot in St. Paul, Minn.

Credit: National Orphan Train Complex Museum and Research Center

An Orphan Train rider, from the "Riders on the Orphan Train" multimedia performance at Union Depot in St. Paul, Minn.

Credit: National Orphan Train Complex Museum and Research Center

Orphan Train riders, from the "Riders on the Orphan Train" multimedia performance at Union Depot in St. Paul, Minn.

Credit: National Orphan Train Complex Museum and Research Center

Kids under the care of the Children's Aid Society prepare for their trip our west.

Credit: Children's Aid Society

Children ready to board an orphan train in New York.

Credit: Courtesy The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York

Children with train agents from the Children's Aid Society

Credit: Children's Aid Society

Clothing worn by Orphan Train rider Agnes Chambers during her journey west in 1916.

Agnes Marie Patnode, or "Pat," born Agnes Chambers on March 1, 1916 in New York, arrived in Crookston, Minn. in 1918. She was adopted by Harmidas Patnode and Alphonsine (emard) Patnode of Red Lake Falls and grew up to become a school teacher and mother of eight.

Credit: Courtesy The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York

Sarah Hunt recently taken off an orphan train.

Credit: The New Orleans Dominican Sisters Collection

A Sister of Charity receiving a found infant from police.

Credit: Courtesy The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York

Orphan Train riders, from the "Riders on the Orphan Train" multimedia performance at Union Depot in St. Paul, Minn.